Non-Abelian gauge fields with fiber optics and beyond

We observe the non-Abelian Aharonov–Bohm effect by synthesizing non-Abelian gauge fields in a fiber-optic interferometer, enabled by multiple time-reversal symmetry breaking in orthogonal bases of the Hilbert space. Based on the realized building blocks of non-Abelian gauge fields, We introduce and study a type of non-Abelian Hofstadter models.